This was a special evening - my friend Catherine loves opera but had never been to a live performance, so it was a big first for her. This production, by the Dutch organization Stichting Internationale Opera Producties, with Italian singers and the choir, ballet and state opera of Plovdiv (Bulgaria) turned out to be very enjoyable. In spite of the main story line being tragic (poor aspiring writer Rodolfo and seamstress Mimi meet and fall in love, but Mimi contracts tuberculosis, and dies in his arms in the final scene), the producers put the accent on the more light-hearted and comedic aspects, including some slightly creepy clowns, shown in the clip below:
